The Winter's Summer
by Adler96
Summary: After months of searching, Steve Rogers finally finds and captures Bucky. But with the threat of Hydra growing every day, Rogers must turn to one of Hydra's own to bring his friend back to reality. Viktoriya Yeshevsky, the agent with fire flowing through her veins, is on the run for her life when Steve enlists her help. Can they save Sgt. Bucky Barnes before its too late?
1. Prologue

Prologue

The President of the United States was furious. Within a few short hours, his best men had been killed or badly injured and now they expected him to give a speech. A speech for those his _men_ had killed. He still couldn't understand why it had all gone horribly wrong. Everything had been according to plan!

The President stood from his black leather chair and pressed his pale, withered fingers against his cool desk. He bowed over the offending paper and read the carefully constructed speech for the fourth time. He let out a low growl and with a swipe of his hand the paper was sent fluttering to the ground.

This wouldn't do he decided. This wouldn't do at all! The President began to pace the length of his office, rubbing his forefinger and thumb across his recently shaven chin. There had to be a way to tell the others, to show them that they were not alone. This was but a minor setback! There were thousands more where those valuable men had come from. And just like that, as if someone had turned on a light inside his head, the answer suddenly became brightly illuminated.

With a grin, he walked briskly back to his desk and slipped into his chair. He pulled out a notebook and pen from his desk and began to write. He had spent years covering up for his men, hiding them and he even now he was still trying to do just that. But the word was out. The world knew of their existence and hiding had become a nearly impossible task.

_The age old question:_ the President thought smugly, _how do you cover up a lie everyone already knows to be the truth?_

And the simple answer? You don't. You lay all your cards on the table and shock them into disbelieving. The President wasn't going to lie anymore. No, he would tell them everything. He was done hiding, for good.

* * *

><p>Viktoriya Yeshevsky pulled her grey floppy hat further over her eyes. She held a pencil and pad in her sweaty hands and took a deep breath, forcing her shaking body to calm. She shouldn't be here.<p>

Throngs of people bustled around her. Some carried cameras and microphones, others carried recorders, and fewer still carried simple notebooks. Viktoriya made her way to the back of the crowd, knowing that any good journalist would have fought her way to the front.

"You must do whatever it takes to get the best story." Christine Everhart had once told her. Viktoriya didn't care much for Miss Everhart but at least she wasn't a hypocrite. Sleeping with Tony Stark had probably not been unpleasant in itself and Christine had gotten her interview, but her reputation quickly went down the drain, especially in the office. Viktoriya doubted that was the best way to get a story.

But Viktoriya Yeshevsky was not here for the story. No, she was here for the man behind the story; the man who had ruined her life. This man who had made her babysit a monster and helped her along in becoming one herself. Rage bubble inside her and she could feel the heat start just blow the skin of her fingertips. A trail of smoke drifted from the sleeve of her summer dress and with a gasp, Viktoriya quickly patted it out. She needed to calm down! This was no time to explode, literally.

The quiet roar of voices that filled the city hall was beginning to make Viktoriya feel claustrophobic. She studied every face that passed with suspicion and her nerves had suddenly become a frazzled mess. She had walked into the lion's den confident and proud but now she huddled in the corner, praying that she be spared. She made note of her exits and gingerly brushed her fingers against the gun taped to her thigh hidden by this ridiculous flowery dress.

Viktoriya had had enough and was about to leave when an elderly gentleman took the stage. The room fell quiet. The President's brilliant white hair stood in contrast to the stage's navy blue backdrop and with shaking hands, he began his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of America," he began, "we are experiencing a national emergency. Three helicarriers were shot down, killing eighty-four. A highly skilled assassin, affectionately known as the Winter Soldier, has escaped and is nowhere to be found."

A collective gasp sounded through the room. Viktoriya frowned; surely the President shouldn't be telling them this. She studied the President's men and was met with faces as shocked and confused as hers.

"SHIELD's defenses have been compromised and our nation's secrets have been broadcasted across the Internet by Agent Natasha Romanov and Steve Rogers. We are at war, ladies and gentlemen, and not with just any terrorists. We are at war with our own people. Agents Romanov and Rogers have put this country at risk and they must be stopped."

"Captain America and Agent Romanov saved us! They stopped Hydra!" a news reporter argued.

The President let out a chuckle. "Hydra cannot be stopped, cut off one head and two more shall rise in its place. Fighting it will only make things worse."

"What are you suggesting Mr. President?" Another reporter asked, her recorder held high. He couldn't be—he couldn't be saying what Viktoriya thought he was saying. Millions of dollars had been spent and hundreds of people had been killed trying to cover it all up. The President wasn't really going to blow the cover on the whole operation, was he?

"It's time we stop trying to fight. It's time to usher in the new era! SHIELD is all but dead and our country has been left weak and without any form of defense. It is time for Hydra to rise and for its enemies to fall. Hail Hydra!"

The roar returned to the room, louder this time but Viktoriya seemed not to notice. She suddenly felt very alone and very vulnerable. It was over. The end of the world as she knew it had begun.

**Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Gun fire and screams filled Steve Roger's ears. He could feel the heat of the tan SUV he hid behind waft though his uniform. Eight months! For eight months, Steve had tracked the Winter Soldier. They had come face to face several times but the always clever Bucky had managed to avoid capture every time.

"Yo, old man! If you're done taking a nap we could use your help up here." Tony Stark's snooty voice filtered through the fighting into Steve's ears. Steve couldn't decide which was worse.

"Yea, yea I'm coming." Steve peaked over the car's hood. He could just barely make-out the silver glint of Bucky's arm.

Steve crouched low, his gloved fingertips pressed against the rough asphalt, and crawled closer to Bucky. Steve narrowly dodged behind a pickup truck as the Winter Soldier trained his hand guns at the Captain.

"Tony! Sam! I could use a distraction about now." Steve shouted.

"I'd love to help Cap. but there's still civilians in the perimeter!" Sam yelled back, the sound of screaming seeming much clearer on his end.

Tony sighed and in his maddeningly calm voice said, "Don't you worry your pretty little feathers about it, Sammy. I got this one."

An explosion sounded behind Steve's hiding place and the steady stream of bullets that pounded into the truck turned on Tony and his Iron Man suit. Steve slipped around the truck and cautiously made his way towards Bucky. A flash of blue light hurtled towards Bucky followed by another explosion and then two more. Dirt and rocks leaped into the air and Steve ducked for fear of getting hit.

The gunfire stopped but by the time the dust cleared, Bucky was gone, an open manhole the only clue that he was ever there at all. Steve raced across the pavement and plunged into the hole. Steve mentally chided himself for not looking before he jumped. This could have been a sewer for all he knew!

The tunnel didn't smell as bad as what Steve imagined a sewer smelt like but it was also too dark to see and the roar of running water was too loud to hear anything else. The Captain let out a sigh and pulled himself back to the surface world.

"What the hell was that!?" Sam shouted but this time in person, not over the electric earplug. Earpiece? Steve couldn't remember what it was called.

Tony stood across from the winged man, his helmet popped open. "I'll admit it wasn't my best idea but—"

"You know what? You're right. It wasn't your best idea. Frankly, you haven't come up with one since we started this. Whose side are you even on, Stark? The Captain asked for a something to distract the metal-armed dude, not us!"

"Well, if you are so unhappy with my distractions maybe you should come up with some of your own and stop playing with the nice city-folk."

"Playing?! I wasn't play—"

"Guys!" Steve interrupted. "We don't have time to fight! The trail is getting cold!"

"Grandpa's right Daffy Duck. I'll head back and get Brucie wired to the satellites." Tony flipped his helmet closed and saluted the soldiers. He took off with a blast and quickly disappeared into the sunset.

* * *

><p>"I take it things did not go quite as planned." Bruce Banner sat on a stool, sipping his coffee and staring at the two men who lumbered into the lab at Stark Tower. Steve Rogers' uniform was wet and his face was a muddy mess. Sam Wilson seemed unharmed, if not a bit dusty, but he had a look of unbridled rage sketched into his face. It was a look Bruce knew well.<p>

"Tony couldn't keep his ego in his pants and blew the whole operation." Sam hissed.

"I don't know where you keep your ego, soldier, but I don't keep mine in my pants." Tony stood in front of a computer in the far corner of the room. He wore an old rock band t-shirt and jeans, his hair neatly styled as always. It looked as if he had just finished mowing the lawn, not fighting a wanted assassin. "You know, I think this whole situation would be a lot easier if you let the Big Guy help out, Bruce."

Bruce still couldn't understand why Tony wanted to unleash the Hulk so bad. Was once not good enough for this guy? "I think that would cause more problems than it would solve. Besides, I'm perfectly happy here."

"Suit yourself." Tony turned back to his work. "But we still need a new plan. This whole 'find him and fight him' thing isn't really working out."

"You don't say." Sam smirked and took a seat on the stool across from Bruce. Bruce could feel the tension pouring off Sam and it wasn't exactly doing the Big Guy any favors.

"Why don't you go take a shower Sam? I bet you'll feel a lot better afterwards." Bruce said calmly, a smile stretched across his face.

"I'm fine."

"You're getting dust all over the lab. It's not good for the wiring."

Sam gave him a wary look. "Yea, sure. Uh, I'll be right back."

Sam trudged back out of the room, glancing over his shoulder one last time. Bruce had worked with Sam for almost a year now, but the young soldier still seemed frighten of getting on Bruce's bad side. Bruce didn't let it get to him. Besides, it was kind of nice being able to manipulated someone so easily.

Meanwhile, Steve had walked over to the wall and was staring at the world map Tony had taped to the wall months earlier. Steve still had a hard time adjusting to the computers and pulling up maps was one of the many things he couldn't do. Tony had finally just printed off one and stuck it to the wall.

"I just don't understand what we are doing wrong." He groaned, frustrated. "We've been at this for months and he gets away every time."

"The only thing we can do is to keep trying." Tony said, still turned to the computer. "Eventually he'll get tired of running and then it will be a piece of cake to capture him."

"That could take years and we don't have years."

"Maybe you guys are just going about it the wrong way." Bruce spoke up. Steve had told the group about Sgt. James Barnes but he had never really explained how the man had gotten where he got. Bruce would never admit it to the others, but he was a naturally curious person and a super-soldier assassin definitely peaked his interest. It was a tragic story, really.

Tony and Steve turned to Bruce. "What are you saying Brucie?" Tony asked.

"Maybe instead of chasing him you should try leading him."

"Leading him? Like leading him into a trap…" Tony murmured thoughtfully.

"But what would we use as bait?" Steve inquired, his brow furrowed.

Bruce shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "What does he want the most?"

Tony let out a laugh, walked to Bruce's side, and gave the man a hearty slap to the back. "His memories! You're a genius, man!"

"I've heard of using carrots, meat, and even hostages, but memories. How would we even set that up?" Steve joined the two men, pulling up a stool.

Tony's grin quickly turned into a grimace. "He's right. It's not like we have a flash drive we can plug into the man's head and upload them. It was your idea Bruce. How do we set the trap?"

"I-I don't know." Bruce admitted. Steve's face fell. "But I may know of someone who does."

Bruce stood from his chair and began to fiddle with one of the lab's computers. He pulled up a picture of a young woman. She had red curly hair, freckles, and bright green eyes. Her nose was sharp, her cheekbones high, and she possessed a very rare child-like beauty about her.

"Viktoriya Yeshevsky." Bruce announced. "She was the head psychiatric doctor over Barnes' case."

"Where is she now?" Steve asked.

"Last known whereabouts were in Washington. It looks like she worked as a journalist under the name of Daysha Vigil." Tony replied, peaking over Bruce's shoulder.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Steve said excitedly.

Bruce smiled sympathetically. "It's already eight o'clock on a Friday night. They're probably closed or at least not taking any visitors."

"First thing tomorrow, though," Tony deviously smiled, "we take the jet."

**Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The months seemed to crawl by but the minutes seemed even slower. Viktoriya leaned back into her chair and rocked side-to-side. 11:00 came and went slow enough and now 11:30 seemed hours away. She glanced at her computer screen and the cursor blinked, twice. Maybe if she stared writing the time would move faster.

_What Men Look for on a First Date, _she typed. She let out a quiet whimper and slammed her laptop shut. This was not part of her job description! Well…at one point it wasn't. She had been a freelance hacker, working for the Italian Mafia one moment and the Russian Soviets the next. Around eighteen years old, she was picked up by SHIELD and just a few years later defected to Hydra.

Viktoryia gripped the edge of her desk, willing the memories to stop but it was too late. Memories flooded back, memories she had been trying to forget for almost two years now: the dark room that always seemed to emanate a sickly green glow, cool metal, flesh puckered with scars, manila folders and earth-shattering secrets. But it was the eyes, those electrifying eyes, which haunted her dreams more than any other memory.

"Afternoon, Daysha."

The people around her seemed to move on. They moved on through the laughs and the tears. Jordan, the man who sat two desks over, caught his partner of eight years cheating on him and he had moved on. But Viktoriya couldn't seem too, she was still stuck in the past.

"Earth to Daysha."

They have never truly experienced it, Viktoriya finally decided. They had never felt true sadness, true guilt. Guilt was the ache you felt deep in your chest, it was the unshed tears you have never cried, that you would never cry. Guilt was the screams of a man you never really knew.

Viktoriya felt a hand on her shoulder. "Daysha, are you alright?"

She stared up into warm brown eyes and forced a smile. "I-I'm good. Thanks Dean."

Dean frowned. "Maybe you should take the rest of the day off."

Viktoriya told her workmates that she had worked as a journalist on a base in Iraq for a short time. A few had looked at her like she was crazy for downsizing to such a meaningless job but Viktoriya blamed it on the stress. Hey! She needed some excuse for being so messed up!

"Really, I'm fine. Besides, I've got to get a project done before I leave."

"Daysha—"

That's right. Viktoriya didn't exist anymore. Daysha Vigil had taken over; the happy, go-lucky state university graduate who didn't have trouble sleeping at night.

Dean rubbed his forehead and sighed. "At least take an early lunch."

Viktoriya couldn't argue with that. She stood from her chair and gathered her things. "You're the best, Dean."

Dean gave her one of his famous smirks and said. "Yea I know. Just get gone before I change my mind."

Viktoriya made her way through the maze of desks. Maybe she should just move on with her life. Dean had asked her out to dinner two weeks after she had started working here. She didn't think he'd mind if she took him up on that offer. Maybe that was what she needed, something new to focus on. Dean was reasonably good-looking; a strong chin, broad shoulders, soft brown hair, and that nose—who was she kidding, Dean was gorgeous! He was the talk and fantasies of many of the women and men Viktoriya worked with. In fact, he was one of the few men Viktoriya worked with who was more incline towards curves than stubble. If she was honest with herself, he actually looked a little bit like—

Viktoriya stopped herself early this time and clutched her purse closer to her chest. She bowed her head and focused on getting out of the office. And that's when she saw them. Those weren't the type of shoes you could buy in just any shoe store. Those were carefully constructed, heavy duty shoes that only a select few were privileged to wear. Those were the shoes of a spy, a super-spy no doubt. For only a super-spy would need shoes specifically crafted to their special abilities. Viktoriya should know.

Viktoriya kept her head bowed and quietly walked past the shoes owner. She heard the tale-tale squeak of the shoe's soles as they changed direction. She could feel the steady footsteps behind her. She remained focused on her goal: the glass doors that would lead her onto the busy street. She just needed to get outside and then she could slip away into the crowds.

She reached a hand out and wrapped her fingers around the golden-colored metal and pushed it open with shaking arms. The shoes were getting closer. She stepped into the cool autumn air. She sucked in a deep breath and took off running.

As Viktoriya skidded around a corner, she entertained the idea that maybe she was just too paranoid. No one was after her. And then Tony Stark and his damn suit landed several feet in front of her. She slid to a stop. So Iron Man had defected too, huh? It definitely made things harder for Viktoriya.

Especially now, there was no way she could get around Stark. His reflexes were much too fast for her to run past him and even if there was a manhole to slip under, she wasn't strong enough to lift it. The building walls were too high to climb up and she could hear the sound of pounding feet fast approaching her. If only she could get enough speed, maybe she could…no that would never work, he'd just shoot her down. It was a better way to go than to be captured by Hydra, though, wasn't it?

"Miss Yeshevsky is it?" Stark asked. "You know you've been a difficult woman to track down—"

There was only one way to find out. Viktoriya burst into a full-speed run once more, straight at Iron Man. When she was but inches away from him, she pressed her feet into the ground and jumped. She didn't have enough height; there was no way she was going to make it. Viktoriya shut her eyes and let her instincts take over. She felt cool metal form beneath her fingers and she shoved off with all her might. Her feet hit asphalt and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She raced off into the distance, leaving a stunned Iron Man standing in the center of the street. Had she really just done a flip off his suit?

But Viktoriya was far from safety. The pounding of running feet was only getting louder. She caught sight of a metal ladder leading up to the roofs and dashed towards it. She grasped the ladder between her fingers and began to climb. Her fingers began to sink into the fourth rung and on the seventh her left hand went all the way through.

"Damn it! Not now!" She exclaimed, catching herself before she fell to the concrete below. She felt the ladder sway beneath her and looked down to see a handsome blonde man climbing after her. Viktoriya raced up the ladder, willing herself to calm down.

She scampered onto a roof and peaked over the edge. He wore a black t-shirt and those stupid specialized shoes. She pulled herself onto her feet and with a kick, broke the already weak ladder. The man was sent plummeting to the ground below but Viktoriya was already long gone.

A door stood in the very center of the roof and with luck it would be unlocked. Viktoriya twisted the doorknob and pushed. With a quiet squeal the door swung open and Viktoriya scurried into the stair well. She raced down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and came to another door. She opened it cautiously and was greeted by the chatter of office workers. She tried to calm her breathing and smoothed out her white blouse. With purposeful steps, she wound her way through the cluster of cubicles. She found herself in front of a maintenance closet and with a quick sweep of her surroundings she opened the door and glided inside.

Viktoriya propped a metal chair underneath the door knob and hoped that no one ran out of toilet paper. She tried to make herself as comfortable as possible on the cold concrete floor. She was going to be here awhile. Hydra's agents never gave up that easily but this many people would surely deter them from making a scene.

Hours passed but it was only until Viktoriya saw the lights flicker out from beneath the doorway that she dared to peak outside. The desks were bathed in moonlight and not a soul was insight. She tiptoed into the vacant room and went from cubicle to cubicle, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. Maybe some scissors or a letter opener? Sure they weren't preferable but it wasn't as if she was going to find a gun in here.

Viktoriya jimmied open a locked desk door and the silver metal of a handgun glinted in the poor lighting. She couldn't help the dark giggle that escaped her as she popped open the barrel only to find it fully-loaded. She said a quiet thank you for those that were just as paranoid as her.

As quietly as possible, Viktoriya snuck around the outside of the desks and to the stairs on the other side of the room. She made in down two flights of stairs, her gun held at ready when the door leading to the second floor of offices slid open. Viktoriya shoved the door shut, the resounding bang confirming that she had hit something. She flung the door back open, her gun held at arm's length.

A young boy, no more than nineteen, laid on the floor in front her. He wore janitor's clothing and didn't move when Viktoriya approached him. She fell to her knees and stuck two fingers on his neck. She felt the steady pulse of his heart and stood to her feet.

"Well that wasn't very nice was it?" A man's voice echoed behind her. Viktoriya whirled around and came face to face with a middle aged man. She couldn't see his face very well, but she could see the moonlight glint off his thin-framed glasses. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of his khaki colored pants.

Viktoriya cocked her gun and aimed at the man. "Oh, that's not such a good idea."

"And why not?" Viktoriya snarled back.

"The Other Guy doesn't really like guns." He stepped closer to Viktoriya and the moonlight illuminated his brown curls and vibrant green eyes.

"The other guy? There is someone else here?"

"You could say that."

"Look, I know why you're here, and I'm going to tell you now that I am no threat. I ran off over two years ago and I haven't told a soul. Your secret is safe with me."

"My secret?" The man chuckled and turned to stare out the window. "If you knew my secret you would've dropped the gun long ago."

Viktoriya felt her grip on the gun relax. "You aren't Hydra, are you?"

"How could you tell?" The man looked back at her and smirked.

"For one thing, I'm still alive."

Viktoriya heard a click sound behind her and the blonde-haired man stepped into the room. He held a gun of his own and it was trained on her.

"Now Miss Yeshevsky, don't do anything rash. We don't want to hurt you. We just came to ask for your help." The man carefully pronounced every word, as if one wrong syllable would send Viktoriya off the edge.

"Who's asking?" Viktoriya retorted.

"SHIELD."

Viktoriya let out a laugh. "Nick Furry and most of the council are dead. SHIELD no longer exists."

"SHIELD is very much alive. We're just in hiding, biding our time for the day that we can take Hydra down." The blonde said.

"I don't care how many there are of you in hiding there's no way you'll be able crush Hydra. The President himself is a member."

"The President had been stripped of his title and is imprisoned under the charge of treason."

"But how many other government officials are Hydra, huh? You can't expect the President to be 'contained' for long."

"That's why we need your help. I believe a friend of mine has the key to taking the whole operation down and we need you to track him down."

"Look, I'm a hacker. I deal with computers and programs. I'm not that great with people, little alone tracking them down. People just aren't a part of my job description."

The other man spoke up, his calm and thoughtful tone barely reaching Viktoriya's ears, "What if we told you we wanted you to find the Winter Soldier? Does that put people under your job description?"

Viktoriya felt the air rush from her lungs and the gun fell to her side. There was no way she could help them now. It had taken her months to recover! Hell, she still wasn't recovered and they expected her to just jump right back in the middle of it?

"Yea—yea that would do it."

**Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"Name?" Steve asked.

"You already know my name."

"It's for the record." Steve held up an old fashion tape recorder and smiled. Natasha said that he had watched too many cop shows but what else was he supposed to do at the time? Fury wasn't exactly letting him waltz around the city when he first woke up.

Viktoriya sighed and propped her feet onto the table in front of her. "Viktoriya Yeshevsky." After their "little talk" back in Washington, Steve and the others had brought her back to Stark Industries. They now sat in one of Stark's many offices.

Steve opened a manila folder and flipped through the papers inside. "Looks like you were born in Oregon and in and out of foster care until you turned thirteen. Then you disappeared off the map for five years until you were recruited by SHIELD. What did you do those years?"

"Well, I was always good with computers. When I was eight, I hacked into my schools grading system and bumped up my math grade a few letters. When I was twelve, I hacked into my social worker's computer and sent my brother and I to the same home. Before that time they had always rented us out separately."

"Rented? They rent children?" Steve's eyes widened. Sure times had changed but renting children?

"The families might as well have rented us. As foster kids we were given to families who took care of us until we could be adopted. They were given the funds to buy us food and clothes but most of the time they used it to buy booze and drugs. Now days they have a way to check up on the families but back then, well things were kind of a mess. You'd have a home for a few months and then the family would realize that you were taking more money than you giving and back into the system you went."

"That's awful."

"Yea, but things started to look up. I got caught hacking into the foster care's system and at first I was terrified about what they would do to me. But then an adoption request came in, one that specifically asked for me. I was so excited to meet the family. I just knew it was going to be a loving father and mother with a big, cuddly golden-colored dog." Viktoriya chuckled and rubbed her forehead."But it was just a man. An old man, with grey hair and more wrinkles than I could count. He had been one of the best robbers of his time and along the way he picked up computer hacking. He taught me everything I know and all of a sudden I was working for the Russians, the Italians, the CIA, FBI, really anyone who could pay me. Then the old man died, I was recruited, and now here I am."

Steve couldn't help but notice the fond smile that played across her full lips. "This file still classifies you as an agent of Hydra. You defected, why?"

Viktoriya's smile disappeared and her eyes turned cold. "Hydra offered me a more interesting, higher paying job. And frankly, Hydra's policies make a hell of a lot more sense than SHIELD's."

Steve frowned; he got the faint sense that she wasn't telling the entire truth. "And what was this more 'interesting' job?"

"They told me I was in charge of the Sergeant's prosthetic. I was really more of an emergency button, though."

"Emergency button? I thought you were his psychiatrist."

Viktoriya snorted. "So that's what they called it. The team who worked on Barnes found out early on that when you erase a person's entire memory, they become erratic and uncontrollable. No one was able to get close to Barnes without sedating him beforehand. You see, humans need some sort of constant in their lives, something they can count on. The team decided that if they gave Barnes a constant he would be more controllable."

"You became the constant."

She nodded. "I was the first he saw when he woke up and the last before he went into the cryo tubes. The first couple rounds showed no improvement. He didn't recognize me any better than any of the other scientists. But when he woke up the third time, while he didn't know me by name, he definitely recognized me. As time went on, I became something he could rely on and when things got out of hand I was there to calm the situation down."

A glimmer of hope rose in Steve's chest. If he could remember a stranger, Bucky would be able to remember his childhood friend. He just had too!

"Can you help us catch him?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't know where to start looking let alone find—" Viktoriya stopped suddenly and sat up straight in her chair.

"What's the matter?"

"The tracking device! Why didn't I think of it earlier?"

"What? A tracking device?"

"They had me put a tracking device into Barnes' arm so that they could find him in case he decided to run off after a mission."

"You can find him, with this device?"

"I'm pretty sure I can. I just need to find a way to communicate with it. If we can find a computer connected to Hydra's mainframe I should be able to find its signal."

"You'll need an Agent's computer." Steve pondered.

"It's gonna have to be a pretty high ranking agent. Not just anyone gets access to Hydra's secrets. The only place an agent like that exists is Hydra's center of operations and there is no way either of us is getting in there."

"What about the President? His computer was confiscated when he was arrested. And where do they keep federally confiscated items?"

Viktoriya grinned. "FBI headquarters, a building we _can_ get into."

* * *

><p>"What's the plan Cap?" The dark-skinned soldier, "Sam" Steve had called him, asked. The two men and Viktoriya stood in front of the FBI building. The sun had set long before and now they stood under the twinkling stars.<p>

"We'll distract the guards and get Viktoriya into their office. She will turn off the cameras and get us into the evidence room. We'll grab the computer and be out of here before the fat lady sings."

Sam and Viktoriya turned to the Captain, smiles etched into their faces.

"What did you say?" Viktoriya asked, struggling to hide her smile.

"The others are always complaining that I need to 'modernize' my speech and that it is 'old-fashioned', so I went home and looked up some hip things to say. 'Before the fat lady sings' was one of the milder ways to word something, although I still don't think it's very polite to call a lady fat." Steve frowned, obviously conflicted.

"Right," Sam's voice wavered as Viktoriya quietly snickered behind him, "we're not going to have the cover of nightfall for much longer, and so we should probably get started."

The pair managed to suppress their giggles as Viktoriya jimmied open the front doors. The door made a clicking sound and Viktoriya smiled.

"Ready boys?" She placed a hand on the door handle and braced herself to push it open.

"Wait!" Sam whispered. "What about alarms?"

"Viktoriya had me hide a disrupter in one of the plants this morning." Steve answered.

"It will disrupt the signal between the alarm's trigger and the device that makes the noise. The trigger will go off but it won't be able to make a connection with the device and there will be no noise." Viktoriya explained matter-of-factly. "It won't last forever, though, so we are going to have to be quick about getting into the security office. I can turn it off completely from there."

Sam sucked in a breath. "We've got a time limit, eh? Alrighty then—let's do this."

Viktoriya pushed open the door and raced into the building, the boys following closely behind her. She ran through the maze of hallways she had memorized the night before. It would have been nearly impossible to get such good blue-prints of such a secure building if you were anyone else, but Steve's team definitely had connections and for them it was pretty easy. Viktoriya turned a corner and nearly crashed into a security guard. She regained her composure before he did and was able to slip around guard.

"Hey—" he called after her before he was cut off by one of the boys.

Viktoriya raced on, with Sam and Steve clearing the way of security guards. She was so focused on their mission that she nearly passed the security station. She came to a sudden stop in front of the door. "Here!"

She twisted the handle. _Locked, of course it was._ She set about picking the lock, except there was no lock to pick.

"Damn it! It's a keypad!" She exclaimed, gesturing to the silver box attached to the wall beside the door.

"Watch out." Steve warned. She turned to look at the two men and saw Steve's foot raised into the air, aimed at her. She gasped and rolled out of the way just in time. Steve's foot collided with the door and it burst open in a cloud of wood slivers.

"Well, that works." Viktoriya shrugged and walked into the office. She steeled herself to fight any guards that may have been hanging around, but the office was strangely empty.

"They must have been the ones on patrol." Sam said.

Viktoriya nodded her head and sat down at the computer. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and a mixture of numbers and letters flashed across the screen.

"Evidence storage is in the basement. There are two doors that require some kind of keycard. I can open them from here but they only stay unlocked for about fifteen seconds. I'll watch you guys through the cameras and unlock them as you come to them."

Steve looked at Sam. "You ready?"

Sam nodded and the pair ran off into the hallway. Viktoriya followed their every movement through the cameras. James had had vague memories of a sickly child. Viktoriya had assumed it was a younger sibling or a friend, she was surprised to find out it was the masculine Captain America. As she watched him now, she could only imagine the pain Steve must have felt as he watched his friend die, both physically and mentally.

"First door?" Steve asked through the earpiece.

"Coming right up." Viktoriya punched in a few commands and the door popped open. It was almost unbearable to watch the Captain try so hard to bring his friend back. What was worse was the hope that lit up his face.

"Second door."

A few more commands and the second slid open. Viktoriya had been hopeful once. When her brother first got sick, she was positive she could cure him. At first all she needed was money. Hydra certainly would pay her enough. But then money wasn't enough and then she needed a miracle. Extremis became that miracle, but it had created nothing but a ticking time bomb within her and it mostly definitely didn't save her brother.

"We got it! We'll meet you back at Stark's." Steve exclaimed. And then the alarms went off. Red lights flashed and the blare of ringing filled Viktoriya's ears.

"Crap!" She slammed her hands against the buttons but nothing happened.

"What happened?" Steve yelled over the earpiece.

"They must have a manual emergency system! It's not connected to the computers so I can't turn it off, at least not from here!" She waited for a response but none came. "Steve? Steve! Can you hear me?"

"Your friends have been captured Viktoriya Yeshevsky." A voice filtered into the room. Viktoriya whirled towards the doorway and was met by the figure of a well dressed man. His smile was cruel and the symbol of Hydra was pinned to the collar of his jacket.

Viktoriya cautiously stood from her chair. "What do you want?"

"We want you—and your friends—to come with us." He stepped into the room and shut it behind him. "We want you to let us handle the capturing of the Winter Soldier."

"Why? So you can stick him back into the hell hole you had him in? So you can take every memory he's every made and make him a shell of a man?"

"That's a harsh way of putting it." The man stepped ever closer to Viktoriya and she stepped back. "We wish to contain him to protect the people."

"You wouldn't have to protect the people if you hadn't created the problem in the first place." She ran her hands over the gun in her back pocket and was startled by how cool it felt. Her hands became clammy and she felt the fear settle into her stomach like a rock.

The man laughed and Viktoriya's back hit the wall. He placed his hands onto the wall and leaned over her small frame. His left hand snaked around her backside and pulled her gun from her pocket. He made a clucking noise with his tongue and shook his head.

"You really should learn to use this much sooner than you do." He said pressing the gun into her stomach.

"I was afraid I'd ruin it." Viktoriya snarled back.

"Ruin it? Pray, do tell."

Viktoriya reached up a shaky hand and laid it on the man's cheek. The man's smirk disappeared and a look of confusion replaced it. Viktoriya gingerly stroked the man's cheek with her finger tips and suddenly placed her full palm onto his face. She felt the rock inside her gut melt into molten lava and the power flowed into her fingers.

The man screamed in agony and back away from Viktoriya's glowing hand. The skin on the left side of his face had bubbled up and torn away from the bone, the edges blacker than coal. He clutched his face protectively.

Viktoriya raced around him and had almost made it to the door when a hand wrapped around her ankle. She was sent flying to the ground.

"You bitch!" He screamed. He noticed the gun that had fallen from his hand and picked it up once more. He pressed the cool barrel into Viktoriya's forehead and she closed her eyes. She heard the bang of the gun and could smell the gunpowder, but strangely she was still alive. When she dared to open her eyes, she saw the Hydra agent lying on the floor, a hole in his mangled face.

Steve stood in the doorway, the gun still smoking in his hand. But it wasn't the agent he was focused on, it was Viktoriya. He looked at her with shock, his mouth hung ajar.

Viktoriya stood and picked up her gun. She slipped it back into her pants and pulled her shirt over it. She made her to the doorway but when she tried to slip around Steve, he didn't budge.

"Come on! We've got to get out of here." She exclaimed, exasperated. She knew what was coming next and frankly she wasn't in a mood to explain. She needed to get out of here before he could—

"How did you do that?"

Too late.

**Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**


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